Facia and cover plate for elevator shaft construction



E. HALPERN May 14, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 4, 1966 INVENTOR ERNST HALPERN l 'll'lll'lllll'lll'I ATTORNEY E. HALPERN May 14, 1968 FACIA AND COVER PLATE FOR ELEVATOR SHAFT CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 4, 1966 1 FIG.6

INVENTOR. ERNST HALPERN ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,382,631 FACIA AND COVER PLATE FOR ELEVATOR SHAFT CONSTRUCTION Ernst Halpern, Plainview, N.Y., assignor to Williamsburg Steel Products Company, Brooklyn, N.Y., a

corporation of New York Filed May 4, 1966, Ser. No. 547,613 4 Claims. (Cl. 52-211) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An elevator shaft construction that has adjustable means for covering the interior wall of the elevator shaft between floors. The adjustable means covers the area between the floor sill of one floor and the top of the door frame corresponding to the lower adjacent floor. The adjustable means comprises at least one facia plate having horizontal slots at one edge and vertical slots at the opposite edge, and a cover plate having means for overlapping the facia plate. The cover plate has a pair of slots for admitting fastening devices to attach the cover plate to the facia plate. Fastening devices pass through the slots of the cover plate and through the vertical slots of the facia plate, the cover plate being supported through means of the fastening devices.

The present invention relates to means for covering the interior area of elevator shafts between floors.

In the construction of elevators, the building codes require that the interior areas of the shafts between floors be covered flush with the landings. This requirement of the building codes is imposed principally for the safety of the passengers. At the same time, this protective feature provides other incidental advantages. For example, there is often an opening in the elevator car door which permits passengers to see the area of the shaft in which the doors to the various floors are located. This area may be viewed by passengers as they ride up and down in the elevator car. The facia plates serve in addition to cover the bare construction of the interior of the elevator shafts which is unsightly and would, ordinarily, be exposed to passengers. Aside from this, the unattractive hardware used to hang the doors on the different floors of the elevator shaft, would also be exposed if it were not covered up through means of the cover plate. The same principle applies to the piping and conduits that may extend along the elevator shaft.

The covering of these areas between doors or between floors has, heretofore, been accomplished in numerous different ways. Since the distance between floors may vary considerably from building to building, the elevator contractor had to measure this distance and then cut a facia plate to the required size, at either the construction site or his plant. The present invention provides means by which the facia and cover plate may be adjusted to accommodate any building design without having to be tediously cut to size. Such adjustability of the facia and cover plate also permits compensating for construction inaccuracies within a building.

In addition, heretofore in order to obtain access to the hardware behind the plate, it was necessary to completely remove the plate from the shaft and thereafter to reinstall it with the consequent complications and difficulties.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide adjustable means capable of covering different sizes of areas between floors Within elevator shafts, in con formance with the existing building codes.

Another object of the present invention is to provide adjustable means for concealing the construction of the interior of elevator shafts between floors.

A further object of the present invention is to provide means for covering the interior of elevator shafts between floors, which is adjustable so as to accommodate the varying dimensions that :prevail in building constructions.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a cover plate over the hanging hardware of the elevator doors which is so constructed that it need not be removed when it is necessary to have access to the hanging hardware.

Other objects 0nd advantages appear in greater detail in the following description and specification accompanied by drawings in which FIGURE 1 is an isometric view showing the manner in which the facia and cover plates are mounted in place between floors within the elevator shaft.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1, and shows the means by which the facia plate is fixed to the floor sill corresponding to a typical door opening to the elevator shaft.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIGURE 1, and shows the manner in which facia plates are fastened together and to the shaft wall behind the plates.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIGURE 1, and shows how the cover plate is fixed to the facia plate and the header.

FIGURE 5 is an isometric view of the facia plate.

FIGIURE 6 is an isometric view of the cover plate.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken along line 77 of FIGURE 6, and shows the recessed slots of the cover plate by means of which the latters position may be adjusted for purposes of gaining access to the hanging hardware of the doors.

Referring to the drawings, FIGURE 1 shows the rel-ationship of the facia and cover plates of the present invention with respect to the elevator shaft. Facia plate 10 abuts the floor sill 11. The top edge of a second facia plate 12 is attached to the bottom edge of facia plate 10. The number and sizes of such facia plates attached to one another, end-to-end, depends upon the length of the shaft between floors. The cover plate 13 is attached to the bottom of the last facia plate in order to cover fully the entire area that prevails in the shaft between floors. The cover plate 13 hides the track and hanger supports associated with the doors to the elevator shaft.

The building floor beam 17 supports struts 15 which, in turn, support the framing for the sliding doors 16. Sill 11 rests upon the building floor beam 17 through means of bracket 18. Sill bracket 18 serves to locate the sill and retain it properly aligned which is accomplished by means of screws 19.

The top of the first facia plate 10 is attached to bracket 18 by means of screws 20. A threaded hole is provided in bracket 18 to hold the screws 20. A single facia plate may not be sufficient to cover the area within the shaft between floors. A second facia plate 12 may, therefore, be required to cover the area that cannot be accommodated by facia plate It). The two facia plates are combined by attaching the top of plate 12 to the bottom of plate 10. A bracket 21 supports the junction of the facia plates, and maintains the plates parallel to the building wall. Bracket 21 has a leg 22 which is fixed to the building wall by means of any suitable fastening device as, for example, a bolt. A channel structure 23 is held by the brackets 21, and extends for the full width of the facia plates. In this manner the facia plates are supported along their entire widths, and not only at their ends where the brackets 21 are located. Screws 24 serve to fasten the facia plates together as well as fix them to the channel structure 23 and brackets 21.

The length of the elevator shaft between floors may vary from building to building. Accordingly, as many facia plates as necessary are fastened together end-to-end so as to cover the area between floors. Thus, additional facia plates may be situated between plate 12 and cover plate 13. Such additional facia plates may be of varying lengths to accommodate different lengths of the elevator shaft between floors. Experience has shown that relatively few different facia plate lengths are required to cover all possible dimensions that may, normally, be encountered. The width of the facia plates, measured along the horizontal, is generally made standard. Cover plate 13 is fastened to the bottom of the last facia plate. Cover plate 13 is constructed so as to be adjustable and adaptable to conceal the hanging hardware of the elevator doors leading to the shaft from the different floors. This construction feature is also in conformance with the building codes.

Cover plate 13 is fastened, by means of screws 26, to the bottom of the last facia plate and to the header 25 which supports the track and hanging hardware of the elevator doors 16. The detailed construction of the facia plates and the cover plate, is shown in FIGURES and 6 respectively. The typical facia plate contains slots 27 at the top edge for fastening the plate either to the sill bracket or to the bottom of another facia plate. Screws may be employed as fastening devices through the slots 27. The bottom of the facia plate contains slots 28. These slots make it possible to hold another facia plate or a cover plate. By using slots as shown, it is possible to obtain adjustment features for aligning the plates as well as varying the total vertical length cover by the plates. Thus, if the distance between floors within the shaft does not correspond precisely to the combined lengths of an integral number of facia and cover plates, the slots 28 make it possible to adjust the plates relative to one another so that satisfactory correspondence may be realized.

The cover plate shown in FIGURE 6, includes slots 29 which extend approximately along the full length of the plate. According to the present invention these slots as well as cutouts 29a at the lower ends of the slots, permit maintenance or servicing of the door hanging hardware without the removal of the cover plate 13. For example, When access is to be had to the hanging hardware behind the cover plate, screws 26 are loosened in place. This allows the cover plate to be pushed upwards with screws 26 riding within the slots 29. When the late has been moved to its upper-most position, screw 26 resides within the cut-outs 29a. By moving the cover plate either to the left or to the right, at this point, the horizontal edge of cut-out 29a intersecting slot 29, comes to rest on the shank of screw 26. The cover plate is thus supported above the screws 26, and the door hanging hardware may be readily serviced. The screws 26 may be re-tightened after the cover plate has been moved upwards and is supportedby the cut-outs 29a, in order to hold the plate safely in position while servicing is being performed.

Slots 29 lie within a recessed area 30 shown in detail in FIGURE 7. The recess provides a firm base for the bolt which fastens the cover plate to the last facia plate.

The recess also aids in strengthening the plate. The bentover edge 31 also adds strength to the plate and provides for clearance between the body of the plate and the hanging hardware of the doors 16.

While this invention has been described in some detail, it will be understood that this is for illustrative purposes only and variations and modifications may be made Without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In an elevator shaft construction, adjustable means for covering interior wall of said elevator shaft between floors, said adjustable means covering the area between the floor sill of one floor and the top of the door frame corresponding to the lower adjacent floor, said adjustable means comprising at least one facia plate having horizontal slots at one edge and vertical slots at the opposite edge and a cover plate having means for overlapping said facia plate, said cover plate having a pair of slots for admitting fastening devices to attach said cover plate to said facia plate, said fastening devices passing through said slots of said cover plate and through the vertical slots of said facia plate, said cover plate being supported through means of said fastening devices.

2. In the elevator shaft construction of claim 1, said facia plate being of rectangular shape, said horizontal slots being situated adjacent to each other and in line along the edge of said plate, and said vertical slots being situated adjacent to each other and in line along the opposite edge of said plate.

3. In the elevator shaft construction of claim 1, said slots of said cover plate terminating in cutouts adapted for supporting said cover plate during maintenance operations.

4. In an elevator shaft construction, adjustable means for covering interior wall of said elevator shaft between floors, said adjustable means covering the area between the floor sill of one floor and the top of the door frame corresponding to the lower adjacent floor, said adjustable means comprising at least one facia plate having horizontal slots at one edge and vertical slots at the opposite edge and a cover plate having means for overlap-ping said facia plate, said cover plate having a pair of slots for admitting fastening devices to attach said cover plate to said facia plate, said cover plate being of rectangular shape, two edges of said plate being bent over and said slots being situated at right angles to said bent-over edges and extending between said bent-over edges.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,867,230 7/1932 Osinga 522l1 1,910,343 5/1933 Kornbau 52-211 1,941,967 1/1934 Bell 52-483 FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

ALFRED C. PERHAM, Examiner. 

